How citizens encounter public services is being fundamentally reshaped. For more than two decades, governments have redirected citizens away from face-to-face contact and towards contact centres, websites, and other forms of self-service. Now, the rise of artificial intelligence marks a decisive moment in that transformation.

This book offers a clear and critical account of what this shift means for public service. It argues that virtual public agents are not simply technical innovations. They raise deeper questions about judgement, authenticity, discretion, and the place of human interaction in public encounters. The book shows how public services have been redesigned around the demands of cost reduction, convenience, and control, often at the expense of direct human contact and the relational qualities of frontline work.

Yet the recent advance of AI might signal a striking reversal. After years of trying to design face-to-face contact out of public services, public organisations are once again confronting the significance of the human capacities that digital systems cannot fully replicate.

Fully revised and updated, this second edition examines the implications of generative AI for frontline work across contemporary public services. Drawing on examples from local government, health, social work, and policing, it will appeal to readers in public administration, public management, digital government, and technology studies.

Stephen Jeffares is Associate Professor in Public Policy at the School of Government at the University of Birmingham, UK